CBS to air interfaith music special

NEW YORK, May 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. television network CBS Tuesday announced plans to air "Faith, Music and Culture," an interfaith religion special next month.

The program is set to premiere June 7.

"Music is often a vehicle for expressing religious faith and belief," the network said in a news release. "This broadcast looks at some modern music inspired within the varied cultures of four religions."

The special highlights the work of Hasidic hip-hop artists DeScribe, Y-Love and Diwon, observant Jewish rappers with a spiritual message; Brooklyn Qawwali Party, an eclectic 11-piece orchestra based in New York that specializes in the sound of Qawwali -- the devotional music of Sufis, the mystical arm of Islam -- with a funky jazz sensibility; and the all-male a cappella group, Anointed Voices, which formed two years ago after meeting at Christian-based The Bowery Mission in New York. The program also spotlights Kirtan, the ancient Hindu practice of call-and-response chanting of Sanskrit mantras.

The special is produced with the cooperation of the National Council of Churches, The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Islamic Society of North America, The Union of Reform Judaism and the New York Board of Rabbis, CBS said.